Sports Briefs

June 28, 2008

State amateur baseball treats Redfield residents Every year the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association sells raffle tickets as a fund raiser. Half of the money goes back to the amateur teams and the other half stays with the association which in turn selects special needs people from around the state and treats them to a professional baseball game. This year the association paid for a total of 39 clients and chaperones from the South Dakota Developmental Center in Redfield to attend a Sioux Falls Canaries game. The group attended a game June 19 and the Canaries defeated the Wichita Wingnuts 8-1. The Redfield group also spent time at Falls Park in Sioux Falls. All the people, including chaperones, received free transportation to and from the game, free tickets and $20 in spending money. Last year, students from the School for the Visually Handicapped in Aberdeen attended a Canaries game under the same program. As District 2 commissioner for the state amateur association Kurt Permann of Redfield organized the last two trips. Running: Willow Lake run The 26th annual Spirit Lake Road Race will be July 4 eight miles south of Willow Lake. The schedule: 4-mile run at 8 a.m.; 1- or 2-mile walk at 8:20 a.m.; 2-mile run at 9 a.m.; and 800-meter race at 9:35 a.m. Fee is $3 or $11 with shirt. Pre-registration required if you want a shirt. Details: Dick Poppen at (605) 854-9286 or rpoopen@amerion.com. Coaching: St. Cloud resignation St. Cloud State University head women's basketball coach Lori Ulferts has resigned. She has accepted a position as a professor position at St. Cloud. Ulferts has a 219-178 record through 14 seasons. Her 219 wins ranks second on the SCSU all-time coaching chart behind women's basketball coaching legend Gladys Ziemer, who collected 321 wins in 20 seasons with the Huskies. Ulferts compiled a 381-267 record in 23 seasons as a college coach, including stints at Minnesota-Crookston and Moorhead. Ulferts was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Coach of the Year in 1992. This fall, St. Cloud leaves the dissolved North Central Conference for the NSIC. St. Cloud will host Northern State in a NSIC basketball doubleheader (women at 6 p.m.; men at 8) on Jan. 24. Ulferts grew up in Warren, Minn., and attended the University of North Dakota where she lettered in basketball, volleyball, softball and field hockey. Her St. Cloud teams advanced to the national playoffs three times, winning back-to-back NCC titles in 2005 and 2006, and advancing to the Elite Eight both years. Go-Karts: Aberdeen race change The Aberdeen Karting Club has changed its schedule for today's races at the track on the Brown County Fairgrounds that is just east of the grandstands and the Brown County Speedway track. The races will be held earlier, now starting at 5 p.m. Check-in is at 4 p.m. The next race date is at 1 p.m. July 12. Wrestling: NSU camps The Northern State wrestling camps on the Aberdeen campus will be Sunday-Tuesday (grades 7-12) and July 8-9 (grades 6 and below). Cost for the high school camp is $100 for commuters or $190 which includes room and board ($160 for teams of five or more). Cost of the youth camp is $90. The focus of the camps is to teach fundamentals and drills with an emphasis on takedowns. Details: NSU coach Pat Timm at (605) 626-2489 or www.nsuwolvesathletics.com. Pheasants: TV show returns Pheasants Forever Television is back for its fourth season. The show will debut at 10 p.m. July 3 on the Outdoor Channel and will feature the Iowa State PF chapter. It not only airs at 10 p.m. Thursdays, but also 10 a.m. Fridays and 5:30 p.m. Saturdays. The July 10 show will feature chainsaw artist Steve Riedel of Huron. Riedel puts 400 hours of caring into art that he donates to the local Heartland Region Chapter of Pheasants Forever, art that ultimately helps fund the chapter's habitat efforts. NCAA: NDSU gets Division I approval The NCAA Division I Management Council said North Dakota State University has met the requirements to become an active member of NCAA Division I starting this fall. Previously a member of Division II, NDSU successfully completed the five-year process of moving its athletics programs to comply with Division I membership requirements. This fall, the universities of South Dakota and North Dakota will begin that same five-year reclassification process. NDSU is a member of The Summit League, Gateway Football Conference and Western Wrestling Conference. Golf: Aberdeen man gets first ace With one swing of his 5-iron, Rob Godel achieved any golfers' dream on Friday at Moccasin Creek Country Club. The Aberdeen resident recorded his first hole-in-one on the par-3 175-yard No. 13 hole. Godel and his brother Donny played nine holes of leisure golf. “I asked (Donny) what club to use and he used a six and I had a four in the my hand,” Rob Godel said. “So I went and switched to a 5-iron and I hit it a little short and it rolled right up and Donny said, 'It might as well just go in' and all of a sudden it disappeared. So I was pretty excited.” Godel, who is a salesman for Pepsi, got off work early and his brother called him and asked if he wanted to go golfing. “It was a nice day. Then the clouds rolled in and we went to the clubhouse for a little bit until the rain subsided and we went out,” Godel said. “The wind was blowing from left to right out of north. So I aimed it a little bit more north so the wind would carry it a little bit, and hit it just a little bit short and it rolled up and all of a sudden the ball disappeared.”